• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Alabama hoping to avoid another loss to non-BCS team

Sep 13, 2008 - 10:04 AM Western Ky (1-1) at No. 16 Alabama (2-0), 7:00pm EDT

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (Ticker) -- Alabama hosts Western Kentucky on Saturday in what should be a breather heading into the start of Southeastern Conference play the following week against Arkansas.

But as Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban knows, there is no such thing as a guaranteed win.

In a previous game against a non-BCS team, Alabama suffered a stunning 21-14 loss to Louisiana-Monroe of the Sun Belt Conference last year as a 24-point favorite. It continued a late-season collapse in which the Crimson Tide lost four straight games to finish the regular season at 6-6.

Alabama opened this season with an dominating 34-10 win over then-No. 9 Clemson, holding the Tigers to a net of zero yards rushing.

But the Crimson Tide were less impressive in last Saturday's 20-6 victory over Tulane, which spent the week practicing in Birmingham after Hurricane Gustav forced an evacuation from New Orleans.

Alabama was outgained, 318-172, but got two special teams touchdowns in the first quarter and let its defense do the rest. Javier Arenas returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown and Chris Rogers returned a blocked punt 17 yards for another score.

Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson was sacked four times as the Crimson Tide missed two field goals and scored only one offensive touchdown.

"We won, it's great to be 2-0, but certainly if we don't make progress we're not going to be the kind of football team I think we can be," Saban said. "The goal we have is to play to our capabilities. If we can do that, we'll succeed as coaches."

A member of the Gateway Conference through the 2006 season, Western Kentucky is in the second of a two-year transition toward full membership in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Next year, the Hilltoppers will play a full FBS schedule.

Last week, Western Kentucky (1-1) posted a 37-13 victory over Eastern Kentucky of the Football Championship Subdivision.